The Relatability of Hifumi – NEW GAME!

It’s one of those shows I instantly fell in love with. This – for the most part – is down to its brilliant characters. There’s isn’t a single one I don’t like. Each of them serve a purpose in the show. And, even though we have ‘main’ characters, none of them are ever forgotten about, or left out in the story.

Saying this, I do have a all-time favourite: Hifumi

Hifumi smiles!

For Where Art Thou Sweet Hifumi?

Hifumi is… relatable. That’s the simple fact of the matter. Sure, it plays into those stereotypes – being that those who enjoy anime struggle with social issues. A stereotype which is both true, untrue, and misleading. As most stereotypes are. Yet, despite this, Hifumi is not two-dimensional in the matter, she’s much more than her struggles. Working at Eagle Jump, she has to be.

Of course, one of the main reasons I’m attached to Hifumi, is that her and I are alike. If only in the shared struggle with Social Anxiety. Naturally, this makes for some connection, some shared experience, and some shared, well… anxiety.

When getting into a show, it’s natural, and completely subconscious to form strong links with the things we often – all too well – know and understand. From this is where the emotion we feel stems. From those moments that we have experienced to some degree, and those situations we have found/find both comfort and discomfort in. It is this that makes storytelling such a fantastic thing! After all, connecting to characters that are worlds apart, yet so close, is one of the most rewarding and cathartic experiences we can have in viewing anime (or any other creative media.)

Hifumi is driven, she is sweet, she thinks about other people. You might say she is the ‘silent glue’ for the entire cast of NEW GAME! It’s a contrary thing to believe that those who are quieter often have as much influence as those who are not afraid to use their voice. But, Hifumi is just that. In fact, she ends up being Character Team Leader in Season 2 with the help of Yagami.

I feel you Hifumi…

Mutual Giving

And, now we come to support. Support is a massive theme throughout NEW GAME in general. The characters rely on each other in times of need, and this creates that dynamic where everything exists in balance. Of course, Hifumi is in need of help from time to time too. She forms a quick and strong bond with Aoba, who is more than willing to dish this out. Aoba helps her through the times when the need for social interaction is heavy, and when this need becomes more than Hifumi can handle alone. After all, Aoba is/was new, and Hifumi can understand and lend a hand with this. It’s a relationship of mutual giving.

Are they not the best type of relationships?

I find value in things where I am able to see myself. Where I am able to better understand myself because of what is on-screen. It changes us, and after all, is that not its most fundamental purpose – to impart change? If there is one way to remember something, it’s how that something impacted and changed the way you live. Now, NEW GAME might not reach those heights, but coming even close is more than what we can ask for.